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Fusion energy: Progress, partnerships, and the path to deployment
Over the past decade, fusion energy has moved decisively from scientific aspiration toward a credible pathway to a new energy technology. Thanks to long-term federal support, we have significantly advanced our fundamental understanding of plasma physics—the behavior of the superheated gases at the heart of fusion devices. This knowledge will enable the creation and control of fusion fuel under conditions required for future power plants. Our progress is exemplified by breakthroughs at the National Ignition Facility and the Joint European Torus.
Jean Johner
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 515-530
Technical Paper | Plasma Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29392
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
By extrapolating the experimental laws describing the energy confinement and the magnetohydrodynamic stability limits in current large tokamaks, it can be shown that stable thermonuclear ignition equilibria should exist in this type of configuration if the product of dimensions multiplied by a power of the magnetic field intensity is large enough. By quantitatively applying this result to several next-generation tokamaks, it appears that such equilibria could exist in these machines. Moreover, the additional heating power that will be available in these devices should be sufficient for ignition.